Series 8582

Governor Bangerter Declarations

Historical Note

Scope and Content

These are the official declarations of Governor Bangerter's office. Declarations were one of the public relations functions of the office, done as one of the services offered to constituents. They were created to draw attention to particular people, places, or things. A day, week, or even a year might be declared. The declarations had a standardized format: individual paragraphs describing the significance and beginning with the word "WHEREAS," and then the phrase "NOW, THEREFORE, I, Norman H. Bangerter, Governor of the State of Utah, do hereby declare [dates] as ___________[day/week/year] in the State of Utah." The format was varied somewhat to fit the particular circumstances. There are myriad items noted: ethnic groups, diseases, the arts, occupations, civic organizations, activities, individual accomplishments, communities, etc.

An individual or organization would request the issuance of a declaration. If the request came from out-of-state, they would be told to locate a Utah sponsor. The sponsor would also provide a draft of the requested declaration for the governor's office. If approved, the office would re-type the declaration on official stationery. The governor would either sign the declaration at an official ceremony, or the staff would attach his autopen signature and mail the declaration to the sponsor. Copies of the declaration were automatically provided to the press; groups could also obtain their own additional media coverage.

The declarations are accompanied by the letters or phone conversation notes from the sponsor requesting the declaration. Additional background information might also have been provided by the sponsor and is included in the series.

Arrangement

Chronological by month and year. Undated material appears first.

Research Note

Two additional boxes of unarranged declarations were sent in as a different series in February 1995, after the first material had been filmed and destroyed. There was no way to splice all this material in chronological order, so a separate chronological sequence was created. Both sequences should be checked, as material might appear in both as easily as in one or the other.

Related Records

Press releases from the Governor Bangerter, Series 13698, contain copies of declarations for which the office wished to provide more publicity.

Governors' executive orders and proclamations from the Lieutenant Governor, Series 85039, is the official copies of these records.

Access Restrictions

This series is classified as Public.

Preferred Citation

Cite the Utah State Archives and Records Service, the creating agency name, the series title, and the series number.

Processing Note

The series was scheduled in November 1986 and transferred to the records center beginning in 1987. The series was archivally processed by A.C. Cone in January 1994. The series was microfilmed in the same year. The paper copy was destroyed following microfilming, as it lacked intrinsic value. The series was updated in 1999 when two additional boxes, initially brought in as another series (14652) in February 1995, were correctly identified, and again in 2001 after filming of the new material was completed in March 2001.